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Monday, January 27, 2014

Last week at The Fonecast: 27th January 2014

Expecting the unexpected

Mark Bridge writes:

Great news for mobile phone users. Ofcom’s new rules preventing unexpected mid-contract price rises came into force last week, which means UK consumers can no longer be surprised by their subscription charge increasing while they’re still locked into a minimum-term deal.

However, it didn’t rule out all price increases, as O2 chose to demonstrate. Its contracts include a clause that says monthly charges will keep track with inflation – and that’s exactly what they’re going to do. Hmmm. Perhaps not such a straightforward consumer victory after all.

What else has been happening with UK mobile networks?

Well, charity-friendly MVNO The People’s Operator has appointed Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales as a board member and co-chair of the company. Three UK has been told off for describing its network as 3.9G. And the GSMA has warned that plans to increase annual licence fees for the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum bands could adversely affect investment in 4G services.

Talking of 4G, a new survey showed that a tiny proportion of customers are using an enormous amount of data. Figures from JDSU revealed that 0.1% of the world’s 4G users consumed more than half of all LTE downlink data in 2013, making them 10 times more data-hungry than the equivalent 3G customers.

While on the subject of surveys, we learned that phablet manufacturing, spending on mobile advertising and the adoption of M2M retail devices are all increasing. Hooray for mobile.

Finally, to money... in a variety of forms. Qualcomm has bought around 2,400 patents from HP, including some from its fondly-remembered Palm business. T-Mobile USA has launched a new financial service that combines an app with a prepaid Visa card. BlackBerry is selling most of its property in its home country of Canada, leasing back essential offices to ensure it still has somewhere to work.

And Samsung has partnered with Italian coffee company illycaffè in a deal that’ll see both company’s products appearing in their retail flagship stores – and illycaffè coffee being served at Samsung events. I reckon this’ll make the Samsung stand at Mobile World Congress more attractive than ever.

On Monday mornings we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in an email newsletter that’s very much like this article. To receive it, simply register your email address at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page.
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Opinion Articles

SpinVox visit offers a few clues about the technology

Mark Bridge writes:

So, dear reader, let’s start at the beginning. Once upon a time, a mere five years ago, there was SpinVox. A company created with help from entrepreneur Christina Domecq – whose surname offers a clue to her family’s background – and Daniel Doulton, the man behind the Psion series 5. (Sherry and portable computers; two of my favourite products. But I digress).

The company’s promise was simple: to turn voicemail messages into SMS text messages.

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That just about covers it

Mark Bridge writes:

In my last article I looked forward to a world of cyborgs… but feared that decent battery life could stifle my dreams. And this week I’m on a similar theme, despairing that the UK’s mobile coverage problems probably won’t be solved before the Silver Jubilee of Vodafone and Cellnet’s networks.

To illustrate my worries, let me tell you a story.

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What price for a hands-free conversation?

Iain Graham writes:

When you get up tomorrow morning and get in the car, why don't you screw up three £20 notes and lob 'em out of the window?!  Oh, and whilst you are at it, take out your driving licence, and put three points in the penalties column!!

Why would you do that, I hear you ask?

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The Singularity is… errm… on its way, I think

Mark Bridge writes:

I’m an optimist. I’m not quite sure why I’m wired that way but I’m perfectly happy with it. Much as you’d expect, I suppose. And although I tend not to tap-dance in the gutter when it’s raining, I firmly believe that life is like a musical.

That’s probably why I’m such a fan of what’s become known as ‘the Singularity’; a point when technology and evolution are expected to combine. As computers become smarter, so they’ll be able to build smarter computers themselves – and before you know it they’ll be repairing people and improving the design. If all goes well I’ll look like a combination of Robocop and Jude Law.

“Fascinating”, I hear you say. “Bring on the medical nanobots. But what’s all this got to do with mobile phones?”

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Web Browser vs. Application Stores

James Rosewell writes:

Anyone involved in the mobile industry will have hardly failed to notice the hype surrounding mobile application stores led by Apple. Application stores provide a really simple way for consumers to install applications on their mobile phones. They’re so simple I heard Iain Graham had used one the other week!

However they don’t solve the fundamental problem of handset compatibility.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

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